12 Words I (Re)Discovered in 2012

Kludge: an improvised device, usually crudely constructed. Typically used to test the validity of a principle before doing a finished design.

Portmanteau: Made by combining two (or more) words, stories, etc., in the manner of a linguistic portmanteau.

Tmesis: The insertion of one or more words between the components of a compound word.

Acalculia: The condition of lacking basic mathematical skills.

A dog’s breakfast: a poor job; a mess; “they made a real dog’s breakfast of that job”.

Panoply: A splendid display of something.

Sublime: A situation or person/place/thing that combines horror and beauty.

Fakakta: Yiddish for crazy, all mixed up.

Matryoshka: One of a set of wooden Russian dolls of different sizes, designed such that each fits inside the next.

Backpfeifengesicht: German for “A face badly in need of a fist.”

Abrogate: To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or her or his successor; to repeal; — applied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc